Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 431: That Explains It

Luca looked around the apartment; ’his’ apartment, but didn’t feel any sense of recognition. Of course, Alicia had told him that he had all but moved in with her and Réne, but he needed time away from her.

To say that he hated the person he was with her around was an understatement. Every time she opened her mouth, it was like he jumped at the idea of being commanded by her. While he wasn’t a little shit growing up, he never was one to jump at someone else’s command.

Not even Réne’s, when the two of them were joined at the hip.

Trailing his fingers over the kitchen island, he tried to picture himself eating here, all by himself. What food did he eat? Where did he sit? There were two chairs, but neither one felt like his.

Closing his eyes, he could picture the guys and him seated around a giant island with food just appearing in front of them. There was a space in the center for someone to sit, but he couldn’t make out who it was...

There were also two men that he didn’t recognize...

The pounding in his head was soft at first, like a tiny hammer behind his eyes as he tried to force himself to remember who those men were... who that chair was left for. Was it the same person who liked their sugar with a bit of milk and coffee?

Shaking his head, trying to get rid of the white hot pain, he stumbled toward the couch. Falling into it, he grimaced. There was no way he would have picked this thing. It was clearly designed for fashion and not function because it was like lying on a rock.

Scratch that, a rock was probably more comfortable than that couch.

"The pain will go away if you stop forcing yourself," announced a man as he just walked into Luca’s apartment.

"Adam, right?" muttered Luca, his eyes opening just enough to make out the person before quickly closing again. The afternoon light was too much for his head, but there wasn’t much that Luca could do about it.

He couldn’t even get the strength to stand up right now, let alone close the curtains that spanned one entire side of the wall.

"I’m surprised you remembered that much," chuckled the other man as he sat down across from Luca. "To tell you the truth, I’m surprised that you aren’t a drooling husk, stumbling after Alicia. I’d almost be impressed if I didn’t hate you so much."

"Why do you hate me?" grunted Luca, forcing the words out. "I don’t remember doing anything to you."

"Ah, that’s the kicker, isn’t it?" purred the other man, clearly enjoying this more than he should. "You don’t remember the last four years... so who is to say why I want you dead?"

Luca didn’t bother to respond or even ask why Adam was able to get into his place. It was all he could do not to pass out in pain as his brain tried to rearrange itself.

"I don’t have an attack of my conscious too much," continued the man, like the two of them were sitting down for tea. "In fact, I was pretty certain that I didn’t even have one of those things until you followed Alicia into the meeting like a good little puppy."

Adam let out a long sigh as if it were truly Luca’s fault that he was feeling guilty. "Now, I have a choice. I kill you now, and no one has to know anything about it, or I can fix you."

"I vote for fixing me," gasped Luca as he opened his eyes, only to see a bright white light. He felt something dripping from his eyes and ears, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see what it was.

"You’re bleeding," said Adam like it was nothing at all. "First your eyes and ears, then your nose, then your mouth... until every hole in your body is bleeding. Next, your brain is going to start rotting. Similar to the zombie virus, you are going to die, only to be reborn into something that you never saw coming. However, at least your head will be able to fit through the neck hole of your favorite shirt. That’s more than most mutated zombies can do."

"What do I have to do?" gasped Luca as he forced himself to swallow back the vomit in his mouth. "To get you to save me?"

"I created this," continued Adam. He had completely ignored Luca, lost in his own world. "It’s called the Puppet serum. A completely unoriginal name, but the idiots who run this place need things to be simplified for them to understand. Essentially, it allows a human to have an entire army of zombies, capable of following directions with no thoughts for themselves."

Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Luca fought back the pain, even as he released the shadows of memory that he was trying to chase. The moment he let go, the pain started to recede until he could concentrate on the conversation.

"I refuse," he said at last.

"I would like to say that that isn’t possible, but you’ve proven otherwise." Adam’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Luca’s face. He looked like some demented clown or a warrior from a time long ago.

The blood dripping down the inner and outer corners of his eyes created a design against his sickly pale face that was nothing short of a masterpiece. Even the blood trickling out of his ears didn’t detract from his deadly beauty.

"What do I need to do?" repeated Luca. Ever so slowly, he sat up and crossed his legs. Folding his hands on his knee, he stared at Adam. It was like he wasn’t even close to death a few seconds ago.

"How are you doing that?" asked Adam, once again, completely ignoring Luca. "You shouldn’t be able to function." freewёbnoνel.com

Since Adam was staring at him so much, he couldn’t miss Luca’s eyes turning bright green until there wasn’t even a pupil left. "You didn’t take me into account," hissed Greed as he looked at Adam.

Right now, Luca was too weak to do anything more than just lie there in their mind. In fact, it was that weakness that disconnected the man from the monster. The Puppet serum had snapped the tether, splitting the soul into two once again.

"You’re a demon," nodded Adam. "I guess that explains it."